eBay: 10 dream adventures @ Re 1 each

Internet auction firm eBay India announced on Monday 10 adventurous and romantic auctions with bids starting at Re 1 each for activities varying from flying a combat aircraft to watching F1 Grand Prix.

These activities at places like Monaco, Moscow, London and Pattaya are part of a campaign titled "Ten Things To Do Before You Die," and the winning bid would be inclusive of travel and staying costs for each of the events.

However, the bids for two of the auctions -- flying a Combat aircraft in Moscow and watching F1 Grand Prix in Monaco -- have already reached over Rs 21,000 and Rs 15,000 respectively within hours of bidding starting this morning.

The remaining eight auctions would begin over this week. In the first auction, the winner would be given a chance to fly a high-speed combat trainer L-39 Albatross aircraft as a co-pilot at the height of 16,000 feet and speed of 400 kmph in Moscow.

According to eBay, the actual cost of the event is Rs 4.97 lakh and the bidding started at Rs 26 this morning. According to the latest information available on the website, a total of 22 bids have come with the highest being Rs 21,500.

The bidding ends on March 13 for this event. The winner would be trained by professional pilots and instructors before being taken to the skies and the package would include travel to Moscow or Los Angeles and back (ex Delhi) and 4 or 5 star hotel-stay for three nights/four

days.

Another auction that opened on Monday is for watching F1 Grand Prix in Monaco and 15 bids have already poured in with the highest so far at Rs 15,600. The first bid came at Rs 27.25, as against a minimum of Re one. The actual cost for this event is Rs 360,878, eBay India said.

Other auctions that are part of this campaign include driving a Formula 1 car in Leicestershire, UK (actual cost Rs one lakh), a romantic night out at the world's most expensive hotel Burj-Al Arab, Dubai (Rs 1.37 lakh) and skydiving at Pattaya Air Park in Thailand (Rs 1 lakh).

The Formula 1 car drive and Burj-Al Arab auctions would start on Tuesday, while bidding for the skydiving event is scheduled to start on Wednesday.

These also include watching Wimbledon Gentleman's Final in London (actual cost Rs 3,25,280), driving five high-speed cars -- Aston Martin, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche and Jaguar -- in a Euro Challenge in London (Rs 1.1 lakh) and a chopper ride over Mumbai or outskirts of Delhi in a Bell 407 (Rs 80,000).

The bidding for Wimbledon event starts on March 5, while the other two auctions are starting on March 6.

Besides, the auctions would start at the same minimum bid on March 7 for flying in an an IL-76 MDK aircraft at a zero-gravity height of 22,000 feet in Moscow (Rs 3,80,000) and three days in Egypt with the Great Pyramids and Sphinx in Giza (Rs 100,000).